Means for discharging materials from railroad-cars



A. CAMPBELL.

MEANS FOR DISCHARGING MATERIALS FROM RAILROAD CARS.

Patented J 11116 1, 1920.

4 SHEETSSHEEI I.

- APPLICATION FILED DEC-26, 1918:

A. CAMPBELL.

MEANS FOR DISCHARGING MATERIALS FROM RAILROAD CARS.

APPLICATION FILED 050.26, 1918.

1,342,088. Patented June 1, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2- .A. CAMPBELL.

MEANS FOR DISCHARGING MATERIALS FROM RAILROAD CARS.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-26, l9l8.

1,342,088. rammeameLmzo.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

MQM W WW A. CAMPBELL. MEANS FOR DISCHARGING MATERIALS FROM RAILROAD CARS.

I APPLICATION FILED DEC-2 6, I918.

Patented J une 1, 1920.

4 SHEETS-SHEET'M grain, but it. has

. order to relieve the UNITED STA ES ARGYLE CAMPBELL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR To ENTEEPRIs RAILWAY EQUIPMENT coM ANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, i

v MEANS FOR YDISCHARGING MAT'ERIALs' EoM RAILEOAD QoA S.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ARGYLE CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and Statefof Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Means for Discharging Materials from Railroad-Cars, of which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

y invention relates to means for.dis-,

charging materials from a railroad car or other similar containers. In the specific application of my invention, described herein and illustrated in the drawings, it is embodied as a means for discharging grain from railroad cars.

In the transportation of grain by railroads, usually box cars are employed, the said cars ordinarily being provided with'a door on either side. The accidental discharge of grain through the door opening is prevented by the employment of various means-as, for instance, one-piece doors, or boards sometimes employed as an integral structure, and sometimes used in a plurality of pieces, but whatever means are employed,

great difficulty has heretofore been ex-' perienced in making the initial discharge of the grain, and it has been necessary to remove the grain door or the boards or other means of closure either by shoveling the grain away'from the door-closing means in pressure thereof thereon, or to employ bars or other tools to disengage the boards or grain doors from the door opening. Heretofore, this has resulted not only in great difiiculty'in-procuring the initial discharge of grain and in a scattering of the also been necessarily destructive of grain doors or the boards, or other door-closing means. One of the objects of my invention is to overcome this difficulty by providing a simple, efficient and easily-operated means for removing the grain, particularly from those parts immediately'adjacent the side doors of a railroad car.

' In the drawings andthe description hereinafter following, I have illustrated and described one embodiment of-my invention, although it will be apparent that other embodiments are possible without departing from the spirit of this invention. Other ob- Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed December 26, 1918. Serial No.

- side view of a portion of the floor of the vertical, sectional view taken on line H ing device.

therefor referenced boards or a grain door,

in the car floor so that Patented Jiine 1, 1920.

,jects of my invention will appear from the description thereof hereinafter following.

eferring to the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure l illustratesa a railroad boxcar showing a side door opening and the immediately adjacent parts of the device embody- 1ng my invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a section ofthe car immediately backof a side door thereof. Fig. 3 is an'end view of the discharging means embodying my .invention, shown in its position in relation-to car. Fig. 4 is an enlarged,

of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal, sectional view taken on line 5'5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail of one of the links shown in perspec tive. Fig. 7 is anenlarged Fi 8 is asectional'view taken on line 88 of ig. detail showing the operating shaft in perspective and Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a locking pawl;

- Referringto the drawings, the'numeral'l indicates the side of a box car, a portion of whlch is shown in Fig. 1, havinga side door opening 8 therein, a common form of door 9, a door sill 10,-a lintel 11, one of the door posts being indicated at 12 and the siding referenced 13. It will be understood that the door opening in the carrying of a cargo of grain is closed by and, in the illustration shown in Fig. 1, boards are illustrated,

.the same being referenced 14. The floor of the-car is best shown in a ing referenced 15 therein.

16 indicates a side sill of the car and 17 an opening 'in'thc floor of the car adapted to receive the upper portion of the graindischargingmeans hereinafter described. The grain discharging means includes a chute 18 preferably formed of a casting, although it will'be apparent that other materials maybe used, the said chute'having a substantially vertical discharge opening at its upper end, indicated by the numeral 19, which opening, in its downward course, turns outwardly, as at 20, in its relation to the railroad car. The said chute is provided at its wardly extended flanges, 21, which are inset the upper surface thereof is in substantially the same plane as the surface of the floor, and the upper opening of said chute is provided with a door detail of a lock- Fig. 9' is an enlarged upper end with out-' Figs. 3, 4 and 5,"be- I V .22, which, in

preferable construction, is hinged at its outer end to the chute or casting by means of the pin 122 and the butts 23. 7 he hinge isarranged frame of'the doon Opening and the said door is provided, at its'other end, with the butts 1 or lugs 25 suitably'perforated for. the pasadaptedv to secureithe chute firmly to the car, the said lugs resting upon the angle irons 29-1-29- mounted transversely "of the car,i and, in the particular embodiment shown, held at'their outer ends by a further angle 30 which is secured along the underface'of' Vhe'side'sill and-"are held at'their innercends by the Z-bar. 3-1, which, in the particular car shown, is a usual part of the car-structure. It will beobvious that other means -may [be employed for upholding the angle irons or members 29-29,

which are designed to principally support the chute 18.

The said supporting means are secured together in any suitable '7 'way as', for instance, by the" rivets 32-32.

provided with a flange 33 which engages the Near its lower end, the chute18 is outwardly underface of the lower flange 34 of the side sill 16, which, in the particular illustration, isof channel form. It will be apparent that other similar means may be employed to engage the chute at its lower end to the side sill or other adjacent parts of a railroad car. In-Vthe particular embodiment ofmy invention shown inthe drawings, the chute at. the point indicated is riveted to the flange 34 of the side sill, as shownat the numeral '35.

i r I At theloweriend of the chute brackets 7 the bearin 36-36-are provided, suitable bearing lugs 37- 37 in which is mounted the shaft 38,

the said shaft being provided at one endlforinstance, at the end 39V"with an operating handle 40,1the said operating handle being provided with a shoulder 41",which is adapted pawl 42; to the chute and is provided at its free end with a shoulder 44, having a perforation 45, which is adapted when the pawl engages the shoulder 41 of the operating handle to aline with the perforation 46 therethrough for the passage of a seal 47 to lock the pawl against accidental or mischievous displacement from its engagement with the handle. The shaft 38 is. preferably hollow, as in- 'dicated at 48 in Fig. 8- of the drawings,

and has near the, handle end thereof a rounded portion 49 that is mounted within 50 formed in one of the beardoor will be closed and locked in its closed ing. lugs 3 and, at the terminus of said underneath the I to be engaged by the locking The pawl 42 is pivoted asiat 43 7 rounded portion, has a non-circular, preferably squared, portion ,51, upon which is mounted the arm 52. Beyond said noncircular portion, the shaft is provided with a further circular portion- 53' which is received within the bearing 54 of the other bearing lug 37 and the shaft is also pro- 55 which extends through the opening 56 in the bracket and is there provided with a pin 57 adaptedto hold, the shaft within jtheshaft', the" terminal portion 55 "of said shaft is of smaller diameter 1 cent portion, of the shaft than the adj avided with a projecting terminal portion 7 and each successive portion 7 herelnbefore described from 7 said end to the handle end islarger than its adjacent portion," with" the bearings therefor suitably conformed so=that the arm 52' may be placed in its. position in :the slot 58 between the brackets 36land the shaft inserted therethrough untilitsbearing parts are in suitable engagement in the portion of the brackets adapted to receive them, and the-non-oircular part is engaged within a similarly conformed non-circular opening 59 in the arm 52, thus-securely requiring the arm to turn upon the rotation of the shaft. The said arm 52' is provided with a lug 60, the edge 61 of which forms the arc ofa circle'struckabout' the axis of the shaft 38, which lug is adapted to fill the slot between the brackets .36, through, which the I said arm is extended into the interior of the chute,so that in any position of the arm when-rotated by the shaft'the said lug fills the said' slotbetween the brackets to prevent the escape through the said slot of grain passingydown the locking the arm upon the said shaft and chute; A link 62, bifurcated at both ends,

ment by a cotter 65. -At its other end, the link 62 is pivoted to the lug, 25 of the door 22 by; means of the pin 26, which is se j cured against i accidental displacement by c V the cotter 67. A' flange 68 is provided around the edges of the door'22, which is 7 adapted to fit against the "lower face of the frame 69 surrounding the chute. door 22 in order .to provide a tight closure of the chute door. It will be notedthat the opening Upon loadinga carvwith grain, the chute 1 20 of the chute extends downwardly from the-floor of the car and thenoutposition by means of the link 62 and the arm 52 through the medium of the operating shaft, which is secured against rotation by the pawl 42, the said pawl being locked by an ordinary seal to prevent interference therewith by .trespassers or its accidental displacement. When it is desired to discharge a cargo of grain from the car, the seal is removed from the pawl, the handle is turned in a counter-clockwise direction rotating therewith the arm 52 and opening the chute door through the medium of the link 62 until the door is swung to its open position, which will be that shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 4 of the depending in the chute, the then position of the link 62 and the arm 52 being likewise shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4:. Thereupon the grain above and about the said chute door will descend through the chute by gravity and be conveyed to its receptacle until the grain in front of and about the grain door of the car will have been discharged when the said grain door or grain-retaining boards may be removed, and the further discharge of grain may be continued in the usual manner or it may be shoveled into the said chute and conveyed to the receptacle therefor. This means of discharging the load about the doors of the car is simple and efficient and more fully conveys away the grain than does its discharge through the grain door itself, and also enables one to readily make removal of the grain door or grain-retaining boards without the destruction thereof or injury thereto. Upon the completion of the unloading operation, the handle 40 is employed to return the chute door to its closed position, the arm 52 being prevented from rotation beyond alinement with the link 62 by means of the stop shoulder 70 provided upon the inner surface of the chute. By reason of this alinement the weight of the chute door and its load is conveyed directly to the operating shaft without danger-of the accidental displacement of the arm and link from their locked position, which is further guarded against by the pawl and seal therefor hereinbefore described. 7

From the preceding description, considered in connection with the drawings, it is evident that my improved grain discharging arrangement can be furnished to railroads drawings, that is,'

a device which permits of.

v tation therein.

as an article of manufacture for application to the ordinary box cars now in service so that the railroads can readily change over their box cars for the carrying of grain or other material in bulk at comparatively small expense and without any radical changes in the construction of the box car. Substantially the only change required in the box car would be the provision of an opening to accommodate the chute with any suitable securing means for the chute.

It will also be noted that the construction of the chute and its door closure is very substantial and adapted to sustain heavy loads such as might occur in trucking of packaged articles into and out of the car. Ordinarily,

where only one chute is provided adjacent each side door of the car, the chute will be disposed centrally of the door and is preferably made of such width that the usual trucks would straddle the, door. However, the chute and its door are of suflioiently strong construction to stand any ordinary trucking load. Y

I claim:

1. Ina railroad car, the combination with the car floor having an opening therein, of

a chute leading downwardly from said opening, a door for said chute, a shaft mounted on said chute, flexible operating means connecting the shaft and the door, the shaft being provided with an operating handle, the said handle being provided with a lug, and a pawl mounted on said chute adapted to engage said lug to secure the shaft against ro- 2. In a railroad car, the combination with the car floor having an opening therein, of a chute leading downwardly from said opening, a door for said chute, a shaft mounted on said chute, flexible operating means connecting the shaft and the door, the shaft being provided with an operating handle, the said handle being provided with a lug, and a pawl mounted on said chute adapted to engage said'lug to secure the shaft against rotation therein, the lug and pawl being provided with registering pera forations for the passage of aseal.

In'witness that I claim the foregoing I *have hereunto subscribed my name this 18th day of Dec., 1918. g I

ARGYLE CAMPBELL 

